Syrian plane carried ammunition, says Turkish PM

According to Today's Zaman, he also said the munitions were Russian-made and destined for Syria's defence ministry.

Updated at 4.51pm BST

4.08pm BST

Turkey rejects claims passengers were mistreated

Turkey defended its decision to force a Syrian passenger plane to land, saying the aircraft was carrying illicit cargo from Russia.

In a statement the foreign ministry said the pilot of the Syrian Air Airbus A320 had been warned of Turkey's intention to ground it as he approached from the Black Sea on Wednesday evening. It said he was given the chance to turn back, but that he decided to continue his course.

The statement rejected Syrian claims that passengers were mistreated.

It said they were allowed to leave the plane but the majority opted to stay on board. It said there was "no basis" to Russian claims that lives were put at risk.

3.53pm BST

Jihadists in Deir Ezzor 'are the real fighters'

In Deir Ezzor, the FSA is seen as divided and ineffectual, while jihiadist groups are gaining support, Hajj Abu Bakr, one of the city's residents, told our colleague Mona Mahmood in a conversation via Skype:

Islamist organisations are dominating the ground in Deir Ezzor. They are the real fighters on the ground. The FSA here are only issuing statements. Islamist organisations like Jabhat al-Nusra do their operations and leave; the FSA are deployed in the city but they do nothing.

FSA brigades are stockpiling weapons in the countryside for reasons we don't understand, they do not use them at all in fighting or helping other brigades. These are weapons confiscated in battles or bought by smuggling from Turkey.

The city [Deir Ezzor] is now almost completely destroyed and those who paying the heavy price are women and children.

There are is a lot of artillery based at the mountain in Deir Ezzor, shelling people all the time. None of the FSA brigades do anything to stop it.

We have more than 80 brigades of the FSA [in Deir Ezzor and surrounding area]. Each brigade is made up of 50 to 60 men. There are 18 really active brigades while the others care about stockpiling weapons. There is a big conflict between the defected officers about who should be the commanders.

Jabhat al-Nusra has about 1,000 men but they never deploy in the city like the FSA.

There are big differences between the brigades of the FSA and there is very little coordination between them. People now are in more supportive of the jihadi organisations than the FSA – they proved to be more honest in their jihad.

We have an oil pipeline from al-Busayrah to Deir Ezzor. All the facilities belonging to al-Furat oil company have been looted. Some were looted by the Syrian army before they left, others are looted by civilians and gangsters.

The FSA are attacking the pipeline all the time to stop the regime benefiting from its revenues. The FSA hit the pipeline yesterday at al-Quriyah town.

I myself formed two brigades after six men from Deir Ezzor who had been filming protests in the city were executed by the Syrian army. I felt we needed brigades to protect the protesters but after few months I left them because I wanted to devote myself to the humanitarian situation in the city.

A woman from Deir Ezzor has made a video appeal for help. Standing outside the ruins of a home where she claimed 10 children were killed, she asked "Where are the Arab nations to help us?"

She added: "We need money, we need weapons. Arab leaders should be ashamed of themselves. You have sold us out, you are traitors."

In a recent column for The National, Syrian journalist Hassan Hassan discussed the problem of Deir Ezzor's isolation:

Deir Ezzor is separated from other provinces by desert, making it easily cut off from the rest of the country. The province accounts for about 70∞ of Syria's oil and gas output, and is a main source of agricultural and livestock products. But instead of the province being an asset to the anti-Assad uprising, isolation has become a curse for residents.

Despite the people's plight, and the city's importance – now, and after the regime falls – the situation has not received enough attention. To be sure, most Syrian towns and cities under siege are suffering similarly with little media attention. That is the point. The opposition's political legitimacy, and consequently national stability after the regime's fall, depends on the perception that different cities and regions are being treated equally.

Updated at 4.12pm BST

3.01pm BST

Greece 'considers' hosting Syrian refugees

Greece is planning to accommodate 20,000 Syrian refugees on the islands of Crete and Rhodes, AFP reports citing a statement from the Greek public order ministry.

However, the foreign ministry says the plan is still at the discussion stage.

Would a Romney presidency intervene in Syria?

Mitt Romney is going to come under pressure from hawks on the right and the left to intervene in Syria if he is elected, according to a discussion on Bloggingheads TV.

Robert Farley, assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, and Daniel Larison of the American Conservative, agreed that Romney’s comments about arming the rebels will invite calls and an expectation for intervention from both sides of the political spectrum in the US.

Bandar's reputation as an inveterate networker and hawk have fuelled anticipation about how he will handle the bloodiest crisis of the Arab spring ... He is famously hostile to Iran, the Saudi kingdom's great rival, and is said to advocate links with Israel, seeing it as a lesser threat than the Islamic republic.

Russia claims Turkey endangered lives by grounding Syrian plane

Russia has accused Ankara of endangering Russian lives after the Syrian passenger jet was grounded last night.

Syria said the passengers were in a "very bad psychological state".

One of the passengers, a Syrian aviation official, alleged that Turkish officials pointed guns at crew members and handcuffed passengers.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said: "The lives and safety of the passengers were placed under threat" adding that 17 of its nationals onboard were refused access to Russian diplomatic staff.

MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia)

Lukashevich:Russia believes that by ordering a #Syrian plane to land in Ankara #Turkey put the lives and safety of the passengers in danger

We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace. We received information this plane was carrying cargo of a nature that could not possibly be in compliance with the rules of civil aviation

Haitham Kasser, an engineer at the Syrian civil airline agency who was a passenger on the grounded flight, claimed Turkish officials had pointed guns at crew members and handcuffed passengers. Photograph: EPA

Updated at 12.56pm BST

12.17pm BST

Syrian opposition conference postponed

The Syrian opposition conference that was due to have taken place in the Qatari capital Doha has now been postponed until November to encourage wider representation at the urging of western governments, diplomats say, writes Ian Black.

The conference had been billed as a "major makeover," with new political and civil society groups planning to join the Syrian National Council (SNC) _ the main opposition movement. Plans are afoot to include a Turkmen bloc and Nasserists as well as representatives from activist groups involved in the uprising inside Syria.

Female Alawite officer announces defection

Zubaidah al-Miqi, an officer in the Syrian army, announced her defection in a video posted on YouTube yesterday. She appears to be the first female Alawite to defect from the regime's military.

Our colleague Mona Mahmood translates her saying:

I'm Colonel Zubaida al-Miqi from the directorate of recruitment in the southern region for the Syrian army.

I declare my defection from the ranks of Assad's treacherous brigades ranks, being the first female defected officer from the Alawite sect, I'd like to direct this message.

My people, my sect: the ongoing conflict in Syria now is a conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed and that means the conflict was never between religious sects and minorities but the regime is turning it to a sectarian conflict to contain the revolution and destroy it.

I thank all those who helped me to defect – the FSA, Jund Allah brigade, in coordination with the military council in Damascus.

Commenting on the statement, activist Ammar Abdulhamid notes on his blog that a shorter version of the statement led to allegations that Col Miqi was kidnapped and forced to make the statement. But he says: "This full version, however, seems to indicate that the defection is quite genuine."

Updated at 12.20pm BST

12.08pm BST

Assad forces consolidate gains in Damascus and beyond

The Syria security forces have conducted raids on houses in previously calm neighbourhoods of Damascus as they consolidate gains across the city and beyond, according to a witness.

This area has been considered quiet for a long time, but the government is now conducting search and arrests to further secure the area. It’s considered a backdoor to the Malki neighbourhood - a top priority for securing this place. I witnessed soldiers entering buildings and searching houses. Local market owners spoke about the arrest of young and old people. It is unprecedented for this area, mostly it’s quiet, but maybe the government [is trying to] prevent something happening in future.

(Update: Arar later added: "Shop owners talked about the arrests with anger, and the mood was clearly opposed to what the government was doing.")

It is not clear whether rebels have infiltrated the area, Arar said, but he added “it seems that Damascus is infiltrated by rebels every day”.

This week government troops also stormed the rebel stronghold of Qudssaya - a suburb in the north west of the city, he reported [see map bellow].

I’ve been in contact with two residents over there. They told me their house was raided, everything was stolen like electronics, computers, mobile phones.

The shelling of this area was very intensive. Some residents talked about shelling landing every 20 to 30 seconds, but after all the government was able to enter the place. Most likely the rebels have withdrawn to some other part nearby, because the government was shelling for a long time and after that it entered without clashes.

Arar added:

The government is using heavy force to secure Damascus. The rebels are withdrawing to distant suburbs. But they are still able to infiltrate the city, just as they did in Harasta [on Monday night] when they blasted the Air Force Intelligence.

The blast was very big. It was in the far east [of the city] but even [then] I heard the blast. Many reported that ambulances kept going to the [scene] for over four hours after the blast.

There was a heavy security presence in the city after the bombing and more checkpoints were set up, Arar said.

Asked about government gains in Homs, Arar said:

Everyone here understands that the time for the government offensive has come. For the past two or three months the government was defending its ground. But now its making an offensive, maybe because there’s a shortage of weapons with the rebels.

Even if the government seizes new territory that doesn’t mean the battle has ended, because the government still has to take arms from almost 100,000 people. This is something the government is unable to do.

The destruction of Homs

The video above shows the extent of destruction in al-Khalidiya district of Homs. An angry man – described in the video as "one of the FSA heroes in Khalidiya" – talks to the camera:

Arab inaction – they, Arabs made us reach this stage. The army got into Khalidiya because of the commanders of the brigades. They are only good at stealing money and claiming that they have brigades.

Abdulrazaq Tlass said that he formed a brigade, while we are only 300 fighters here. Three hundred fighters could not control the situation here. We can't stand in the face of the huge Syrian army, shabiha, Iranians, others coming from Russia, from al-Zahra district where the Alawites are and all the anti-Islam sects are coming here.

I have only two words to say: "May God help us" – that is all.

Our revolution in al-Khalidiya in Homs is a big failure. Every single man here wants to be a commander. None of them is listening. They are behind the fleeing of the honest rebel officers because they do not listen and do not respect the officers.

[Translation by Mona Mahmood]

Yesterday, the Guardian reported that some of the rebel fighters' arms supplies are drying up in the face of rivalries and divisions.

A resident of Homs also told the Guardian that government forces' failure to retake the whole city is due less to the efforts of rebel fighters than to the fact that relentless shelling has made the streets in some areas impassable for tanks.

Updated at 2.33pm BST

10.57am BST

Embassy security chief shot dead in Yemen

Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni man on his way to work at the US embassy in Sana'a today, Reuters reports citing a security source.

The attackers on a motorcycle opened fire on a car carrying Qassem Aqlan – who headed an embassy security team – in the centre of Yemen's capital, the source told Reuters.

"This (assassination) operation has the fingerprints of al-Qaida which carried out similar operations before," said the source who asked not to be named.

Updated at 10.57am BST

10.35am BST

New contenders for PM's job in Libya

The search for a new prime minister continues in Libya in the wake of Mustafa Abu Shagur's failure to win approval from congress for his cabinet proposals – and the Libya Herald has come up with two new names.

It says Ali Zidan, the independent member for Jufra, is planning to resign from congress in order to run for prime minister.

He is said be supported by Mahmoud Jibril’s National Forces Alliance (NFA) and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Justice and Construction Party, although the latter’s support is reported as “lukewarm”.

Zidan’s name was being mentioned as a possible prime minister until, at the beginning of September, Congress passed a rule forbidding its members from standing for the post.

If Zidan stands, he is likely to be challenged by Ibrahim Dabbashi.

Dabbashi is Libya’s deputy ambassador to the UN, he was one of the first diplomats to break with the Gaddafi regime last year and is highly respected, the Libya Herald says.

Prime ministerial contender? Libya's deputy UN ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi (r) hugs the ambassador in February last year, after hearing his plea for the security council to impose sanctions against the Gaddafi regime. Photograph: Jason Szenes/EPA

Turkey could decide that war is preferable to the alternatives of an influx of more refugees and Kurds using the ongoing civil war to carve out an autonomous region in Syria.

A Turkish-Syrian war could draw the US into the conflict making such a move more attractive to some influential backers of American intervention.

Syria will continue attacking the Turkish border to stop the supply of weapons to rebels. "The Syrian regime is fighting for its life, and along the Turkish-Syrian border lies the lifeline of its enemy" Wright says.

In a way Turkey is already at war with the Syrian regime by supplying weapons to rebels.

Turkey's chief of the general staff, Necdet Ozel, inspects troops along the border with Syria. Photograph: Keystone/USA-Zuma/Rex Features

Iraq urges Turkey not to draw in Nato

Turkey is being presumptuous, you could say, as if it were taking responsibility for solving the Syrian conflict instead of the Syrian people and wants to impose its own solution. For this reason the international community needs to stop Turkey from intervening.

Bandar's reputation as an inveterate networker and hawk have fuelled anticipation about how he will handle the bloodiest crisis of the Arab spring ... He is famously hostile to Iran, the Saudi kingdom's great rival, and is said to advocate links with Israel, seeing it as a lesser threat than the Islamic republic.